WVC 5 - 5 - 6
§5-5-6. Payment for unused sick leave.
(a) The Legislature declares that it is the purpose of this
section to create a fund to reduce the unfunded liability that
arises from the extended insurance coverage for eligible employees
under section thirteen, article sixteen of this chapter, part of
the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act.

(b) Every eligible employee, as defined in section one of this
article, who is entitled upon retirement to credit his or her
accrued annual and sick leave for extended insurance coverage as
provided in section thirteen, article sixteen of this chapter and
who has accumulated at least sixty-five days of unused sick leave
may be paid, at his or her option, for unused sick leave in an
amount of days as designated by the employee not to exceed the
number of sick leave days that would reduce an employee's sick
leave balance to less than fifty days: Provided, That any employee
who applies for payment under this section may not be paid more
than a total of $25,000, either at one time or over the course of
multiple payments for unused sick leave.

(c) An employee who applies for payment under this section
shall be paid at a rate equal to one quarter of his or her usual
rate of daily pay during that calendar year.

(1) The "daily rate of pay" of an employee paid a monthly
salary is calculated by multiplying the monthly salary by twelve
and dividing that number by the number of workdays for that
calendar year: Provided, That for any employee that falls under the provisions of subsection (d), section thirteen, article sixteen
of this chapter, the highest monthly salary that the daily rate of
pay shall be calculated by is $6,700. Any employee who falls under
the provisions of said subsection and is paid more than $6,700 per
month shall receive payment for unused sick leave at a rate equal
to one quarter of the daily rate of pay of an employee paid a
monthly salary of $6,700: Provided, however, That for any employee
that falls under the provisions of subsection (e), section
thirteen, article sixteen of this chapter, the highest monthly
salary that the daily rate of pay shall be calculated by is $4,200.
Any employee who falls under the provisions of said subsection and
is paid more than $4,200 per month shall receive payment for unused
sick leave at a rate equal to one quarter of the daily rate of pay
of an employee paid a monthly salary of $4,200: Provided further,
That any employee who falls under the provisions of subsection (g),
section thirteen, article sixteen of this chapter is not eligible
for payment under this section.

(2) As used in this section, "workday" does not include
weekends.

(3) Any payment for unused sick leave may not be a part of
final average salary computation.

(d) Payment for unused sick leave may be made upon application
and after the Secretary of the Department of Administration
verifies that the employee is eligible for payment under this
section. Payments shall be made out of the fund established in subsection (g) of this section.

(e) Any eligible employee opting to receive payment in
exchange for unused sick leave must contract, in a form to be
prescribed by the Department of Administration, agreeing to
reimburse the fund for the amount exchanged plus twelve percent per
annum if the employee elects to separate from employment within
sixty months of the date of the exchange pursuant to subsection (b)
of this section. The Department of Administration shall pursue
collection of the obligation, either by itself, or by contracting
with a collection agency. For purposes of this section,
"separation" does not include separation from employment by death
or retirement, but does refer to any other manner in which
employment may be terminated.

(f) Payments shall be made in the order that eligible
employees apply for the payments so long as funds are available.
In the event the fund is insufficient to pay all employees who have
applied for payment in a fiscal year, employees who do not receive
payment are eligible for payment in the next fiscal year, are not
required to reapply and shall receive payment in the order in which
they first applied, unless the employee chooses to withdraw the
application prior to the next fiscal year.

(g) The special revenue account within the State Treasury
known as the State Employee Sick Leave Fund is continued. The fund
shall consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature, moneys
deposited into the fund in accordance with administrative rules of the Department of Administration and any interest or other return
to moneys in the fund. The fund shall be administrated by the
Secretary of the Department of Administration.

(h) The secretary shall promulgate rules pursuant to article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the
provisions of this section. The rules shall include, but not be
limited to, provisions for the application process and a rule
authorizing the secretary to obtain reimbursement, where available
and appropriate, to the State Employee Sick Leave Fund from any
spending unit for a pro rata share of payments made under the
provisions of this section to any employee whose salary is paid, in
whole or in part, from a funding source other than the General
Revenue Fund. The rules may also include provisions to adjust,
when necessary, the highest monthly salary by which the daily rate
of pay is calculated.

(i) Each spending unit, as defined in section one of this
article, shall verify to the secretary whether an employee is
eligible for payment under this section, shall verify the funding
source or sources of the employee's salary and shall verify the
total number of unused sick leave days for all employees at least
once per year. The secretary shall maintain sick leave records for
all spending units. All sick leave days for which an employee is
paid as provided in this section shall be deducted from the
employee's sick leave balance by the secretary and the secretary
shall verify to each spending unit the amount of days that have been deducted from an employee's sick leave balance. An employee
shall not be permitted to reacquire any sick leave days for which
he or she received payment under the provisions of this section.

(j) The provisions of this section are retroactive to December
1, 2008, to the extent that the provisions apply to those employees
who have previously applied for payment for unused sick leave and
have not been paid.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2014 1st Special Session
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